Free antivirus programs. AVAST vs Bitdefender

LVSteve

LVSteve

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With Windows 7 support going away, I thought I had better beef up the ramparts on the Win 7 laptop.

First off, I slapped in a Zonealarm firewall. Yes, I know Windows came with a Firewall, but as the security updates have gone away, I need a product that has support.

Next I loaded the free version of AVAST antivirus. That went quickly and a scan turned up a couple of oddities that were rapidly dealt with. However, I noticed that the audio was now flaky on YouTube videos. Research turned up a couple of similar complaints with no resolution. So, I uninstalled (or so I thought) AVAST and proceeded to try and install Bitdefender.

The Bitdefender download is pretty heavy going. Got well in and it stopped saying that there was an incompatible McAfee product present. Huh? News to me, but then again I inherited the computer from my wife. After some fun and games, I finally got rid of McAfee and then thought that I should try the AVAST cleaner in Safe Mode. Oops, AVAST was still in there to some degree. Hmm. Got Bitdefender in and tested it with YouTube. All good, but I find the Bitdefender interface very basic and lacking in features compared with AVAST.

Now I'm beginning to wonder if the leftover McAfee was interacting with AVAST and messing with the YouTube audio.

Any other thoughts on free antivirus products?
 
Not a computer guru, but I run Windows 10 and currently run the free versions of Bitdefender, the Windows Defender antivirus and firewall, Malwarebytes, and CCleaner. The Bitdefender and Windows products are always on. I run periodic scans with Malwarebytes. I run CCleaner every once in a while. So far, no issues running everything.

I can't recall having any issues installing Bitdefender, though I think there may have been some initial problems getting it to work with Windows Defender. It's been a few years since I installed it.

I also run a VPN most of the time on my home WiFi and all the time on public WiFi. I don't see any issues unless I'm trying to watch streaming HD video (my VPN sucks quite a bit of speed). I know VPN isn't really "antivirus" software, but I do think it's a good security tool to have.

I'm more of a "set it and forget it" kind of guy, so I don't do a lot of tinkering with settings.
 
LVSteve said:
With Windows 7 support going away, I thought I had better beef up the ramparts on the Win 7 laptop.

...
Now I'm beginning to wonder if the leftover McAfee was interacting with AVAST and messing with the YouTube audio.

Any other thoughts on free antivirus products?
Click to expand...
Watch Adobe Reader updates carefully. If you don't uncheck the box on its updates, it will install McAfee without your consent.
 
ameridaddy said:
Watch Adobe Reader updates carefully. If you don't uncheck the box on its updates, it will install McAfee without your consent.
Click to expand...

That's good advice for any updates.
 
Avast used to be good....

...but like a lot of antivirus programs, they get crummier with age. Same happened to me with Norton. Started out great, and some years later the newer versions were performance anchors. I just downloaded Kaspersky (not free)and it found a Trojan that got past Windows 10 security.
 
LVSteve said:
With Windows 7 support going away, I thought I had better beef up the ramparts on the Win 7 laptop.

First off, I slapped in a Zonealarm firewall. Yes, I know Windows came with a Firewall, but as the security updates have gone away, I need a product that has support.

Next I loaded the free version of AVAST antivirus. That went quickly and a scan turned up a couple of oddities that were rapidly dealt with. However, I noticed that the audio was now flaky on YouTube videos. Research turned up a couple of similar complaints with no resolution. So, I uninstalled (or so I thought) AVAST and proceeded to try and install Bitdefender.

The Bitdefender download is pretty heavy going. Got well in and it stopped saying that there was an incompatible McAfee product present. Huh? News to me, but then again I inherited the computer from my wife. After some fun and games, I finally got rid of McAfee and then thought that I should try the AVAST cleaner in Safe Mode. Oops, AVAST was still in there to some degree. Hmm. Got Bitdefender in and tested it with YouTube. All good, but I find the Bitdefender interface very basic and lacking in features compared with AVAST.

Now I'm beginning to wonder if the leftover McAfee was interacting with AVAST and messing with the YouTube audio.

Any other thoughts on free antivirus products?
Click to expand...

Who’s your internet provider?
 
One thing I have noticed. Bitdefender is a bit of a memory hog compared to AVAST. It's sitting there at 300 MB right now.
 
I've been using Avast! for 10+ years now with no problems. I have never run into the problem with it interfering with audio of any kind either. I bet it was due to the fact that the virus called McAfee still had stuff on your win 7 install was the problem. I also use a program called Spyware Blaster, which is also free. I believe it build a hosts type file of bad sites that it won't let your browsers go to. The free version of Spyware Blaster makes you update manually instead of automatically, which takes about 2 mouse clicks.
 
I have used the free version of Avast for as long as I can remember, no problems at all with it. It automatically updates. My browser of choice is Opera, also in use for many years, which has a built-in free VPN which is nearly always active. But the VPN does slow down things a little. Right now, ip8 (a great utility) tells me that I am located just outside Bern in Switzerland. I also have Firefox and Chrome installed as standby browsers, but rarely use them. I have run across some websites that will recognize Chrome only, and that is the only reason I have it. OS has been Windows 10 ever since it came out.
 
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Not an expert but also running Windows 7. I've run AVG free, Malware bites, CC Cleaner for a very long time.
After uninstalling a program, it leaves files behind. Click the start button, then select My Computer, then select downloads. Look though for the left over files.
 
Avast just announced that they will support Windows 7.
I also use their CleanUp to keep the computer running smoothly.
 
I have found that with either Norton or McAfee most of the time you have to get their uninstall tool to completely get rid of them. My IP (Spectrum) provides McAfee for free but when I installed it it grossly slowed doen my machine so I promptly uninstalled it. Right now I am running Avast Free.
 
Ogandydancer said:
I have found that with either Norton or McAfee most of the time you have to get their uninstall tool to completely get rid of them. My IP (Spectrum) provides McAfee for free but when I installed it it grossly slowed doen my machine so I promptly uninstalled it. Right now I am running Avast Free.
Click to expand...

Some years ago (maybe 15) I loaded McAfee. It caused all sorts of problems and I couldn't seem to uninstall it. By doing some searching I found some instructions on how to purge it. After that, I swore never to even think about McAfee again. Tried AVG free for awhile, but it let some bugs through, so I switched to Avast free, never any reason to complain since.
 
I also run a VPN most of the time on my home WiFi and all the time on public WiFi. I don't see any issues unless I'm trying to watch streaming HD video (my VPN sucks quite a bit of speed). I know VPN isn't really "antivirus" software said:
For us none computer people: What is a VPN?

I pay dearly for Norton antivirus, but I have never had a problem that it didn't catch.

Have a blessed day,

Leon
Click to expand...
 
VPN means Virtual Private Network. Probably best to do an internet search on what it is and why you may want to use it, but there are numerous reasons. Basically, it increases your privacy greatly as no one on the world wide web can tell who and where you are. Your computer has an Internet Protocol (IP) address, through your internet service provider, so every website you contact knows your IP address. What the VPN allows is to provide a connection through another intermediate server (or several servers) having a different IP address unrelated to yours, so your contact information cannot be tracked back directly to you. It is much more secure that way as the VPN provides encryption. As I said earlier, I like Opera as my browser, in part because it provides a free VPN (the rest of the world thinks I am in Switzerland instead of Texas right now. Tomorrow, I might show up as being in Australia or Wyoming). Or there are other ways you can hook into a VPN as there are many VPN providers, not necessarily free. To you, as user, a VPN's presence is completely transparent. All you will notice is that your internet activities may seem a little slower, because the signal is hopping around all over the world.

This is a concise explanation of the reason for a VPN:

What information does my IP address reveal?
While there isn't much the average curious person can find out about your online activity through your IP address, your personal information isn’t entirely safe from websites you visit.

If you were to send an email from your home or office, a person with savvy internet skills (e.g. a hacker) and the right tools can use your exposed IP address to find out (with good accuracy) the approximate location it was sent from.

Moreover, your personal information can be tracked by third parties like your ISP, advertisers, hackers and even government agencies.

In the case of cybercrime, law enforcement authorities might obtain a subpoena to enable them to track a user through their IP address.

In that instance, they can take that IP address to the ISP to get more information about the user like legal name and home address.

How can I hide my IP address?
One of the best ways to ensure your online anonymity is by using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN is great because it gives an added layer of protection to your IP address. Many people use VPNs to maintain online anonymity.
 
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